Tree of Hearts

my blood creeps through

a case wrapped in bark

that will shield the center,

until the crippled year

shudders cold and ticks its last,

and all the pain kept at bay

becomes a layer, telling tales

of the road I have walked.

if you could see inside,

you'd count rebirths

along a maze of petrified grins,

they're all I kept.

so when I fall, breach my heart

and let me warm you,

when change frosts your hands.